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HAMILTON, N.Y. (11/22/08) – Playing inspired ball in the second half, the Colgate football team (9-2, PL 5-0) rallied for an exciting 28-27 win over Holy Cross (7-4, PL 5-1) Saturday for its sixth Patriot League Championship.
Colgate will now play in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs with the Patriot League's automatic berth. The Raiders' first round opponent will be announced on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
On a field covered with snow, the Raiders rushed for 283 yards and controlled the ball for 42:27 minutes, including 24:49 in the second half. Colgate finished with 412 yards of total offense, while Holy Cross managed 335.
Colgate had to claw its way to the title the entire game after falling behind 7-0 on the second play of the game. Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph hit wide receiver Jon Brock on a 75-yard touchdown pass 59 seconds into the contest. Matt Partain added the extra point.
On Colgate's second possession of the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Greg Sullivan (Monroe, NY) connected with junior wide receiver Pat Simonds (Sidney, NY) on a 50-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, after Jacob Stein's (St. Petersburg, FL) extra point. The Raiders went 61 yards in three plays for the score.
Sullivan carried 22 times for 76 yards and connected on 8-of-12 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. En route he broke the school record for rushing yardage by a quarterback in a season with 865 yards. The old mark of 833 was set by Tom Parr in 1973.
Holy Cross came right back for a 14-7 lead in its next possession, when Randolph found Bill Edger on a 42-yard scoring strike with 7:06 left in the first quarter to cap a 75-yard drive in three plays.
Colgate tied the contest for a second time 30 seconds into the second quarter, when Jordan Scott (Hyattsville, MD) scored on a one-yard run. Colgate went 63 yards in 14 plays, including converting twice on fourth-and-short.
Taking advantage of a Colgate personal foul on the ensuing kickoff, Holy Cross took over on the Colgate 36 after the run back. Four plays later, Randolph fired his third TD pass hitting Brett McDermott on a seven-yard strike for a 21-14 lead with 12:34. The Crusaders increased their lead to 24-14 at halftime, when Partain kicked a 36-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining.
Colgate had the ball to start the second half, and put together one of the best drives in school history. The Raiders went 79 yards in 17 plays taking 10:09 off the clock for a touchdown. Simonds caught his second TD of the game on a 10-yard toss from Sullivan. Simonds became the fifth player in school history to record over 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He has 59 catches for 1,054 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Holy Cross scored on a 37-yard field goal with 3:06 left in the third quarter to lead 27-21, but the rest of the game was all Colgate.
The Raiders scored on their next possession for a 28-27 lead with 13:02 remaining in the contest, when freshman sensation Nate Eachus (Drums, PA) tallied on a five-yard run. Eachus took over late in the third quarter, when Scott was hurt. He carried 21 times for 118 yards and one touchdown.
Colgate stopped the Crusaders' next drive when Wayne Moten (Forestville, MD) came up with his seventh career interception at the home team's 10-yard line. Then the defense forced Holy Cross to punt with 4:37 remaining, and Colgate was able to run out the clock.
GAME NOTES: Scott finished with 22 carries for 82 yards and one touchdown. He became only the fifth player in FCS history to rush for over 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons, and is currently fifth place in FCS career rushing with 5,527 yards … Simonds is in eighth place on Colgate's all-time receiving yardage list with 1,703 yards … Austin Douglas (Ashburnham, MA) had one quarterback sack and five tackles, while Jim Meara (Montgomery, MA) and Juliues Barlay (Atlanta, GA) shared a sack … Colgate ran 81 plays compared to the Crusaders' 37.